Earlier today, we covered the strong, record-setting sales that Fender and other guitar makers have recorded throughout 2020. Now, in another positive development to come about amid the pandemic, SiriusXM has signaled that it expects to add more subscribers than anticipated.
SiriusXM disclosed its heightened subscriber prediction to investors earlier today. Having previously forecasted a net subscriber hike of 500,000 during 2020 (only on July 30th, it bears mentioning), the satellite-radio giant increased the anticipated boost in self-pay subscribers by 40 percent, to 700,000.
Additionally, the publicly-traded company specified that it anticipates total revenue will touch about $7.7 billion through 2020, with free cash flow coming in at approximately $1.6 billion. While smaller than that of the initial 2020 guidance, the 700,000-subscriber expectation suggests that business is faring better than anticipated.
Addressing the encouraging guidance with a formal statement, SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer said, in part: “Our conversion and churn performance remain excellent, and it’s clear that demand for SiriusXM remains strong – quite simply, consumers continue to find immense value in our unique audio bundle and all of the entertainment and information it provides.”
On the day, SiriusXM shares (traded as SIRI) dipped 2.28 percent, to $5.58 apiece. Since dropping on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic’s domestic onset in March, the stock has largely held steady in the $6 range. At the time of this writing, after-hours trades had produced a small (.5 percent) per-share uptick.
More broadly, the general market uncertainty and economic strain ushered in by the novel coronavirus hasn’t stopped SiriusXM from making high-profile moves. In mid-July, DMN first reported that the Liberty Media-owned entity had acquired podcasting platform Stitcher in a $325 million deal. The massive buyout arrived as leading music streaming service Spotify continued to ride a wave of stock-market growth after locking down the exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience and a series of other podcasts.
Plus, New York City-headquartered SiriusXM has embraced and rallied behind livestream concerts as their traditional counterparts remain on ice. Having initiated the trend earlier this year, with a series of premium-concert rebroadcasts, the company announced in July that it would roll out a series of live performances on its Pandora streaming service. The first of these remote gigs, from country mainstay Kane Brown, took place that same month.
And today, SiriusXM revealed that The Killers will offer the second Pandora Live gig next Tuesday, September 15th. The Las Vegas rock band recently released its sixth studio album, Imploding the Mirage, which will be promoted during the showcase.